Word of the Day

: April 19, 2013

admonish

verb ad-MAH-nish

What It Means

1 a : to indicate duties or obligations to

b : to express warning or disapproval to especially in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner

2 : to give friendly earnest advice or encouragement to

admonish in Context

The teacher admonished Jenny not to run in the hallways.

"A struggling backup goaltender will stand up in the locker room during the intermission of a game in which he isn't playing, and he'll admonish his teammates to, essentially, stop being so stupid with the puck." - From an article by Dejan Kovacevic in TribLive, March 17, 2013

Did You Know?

We won't admonish you if you don't know the origins of today's word-its current meanings have strayed slightly from its history. "Admonish" was borrowed in the 14th century (via Anglo-French) from Vulgar Latin "admonestare," which is itself an alteration of the Latin verb "admonēre," meaning "to warn." "Admonēre," in turn, was formed by the combination of the prefix "ad-" and "monēre," "to warn." Other descendants of "monēre" in English include "monitor," "monitory" ("giving a warning"), "premonition," and even a now archaic synonym of "admonish," "monish." Incidentally, "admonish" has a number of other synonyms as well, including "reprove," "rebuke," "reprimand," "reproach," and "chide."